The city of Encinitas has extended the public comment period on a proposal to ban Styrofoam.
The Encinitas Environmental Commission recommended the ban and drafted an ordinance.
Roger Kube Surfrider Foundation said the organization supports the ban because of the environmental harm polystyrene, or as it's commonly known Styrofoam, causes.
"On average each year Surfrider and San Diego Coastkeeper volunteers, in about 45 public beach clean-ups, pick up over 20,000 pieces of Styrofoam," Kube said.
Kube said that plastic is making it's way into our food referring to a recently published study by UC Davis researchers that found that 25 percent of fish sold in California fish markets contained plastic or other human-caused debris.
"If the city of Encinitas would provide more trash receptacles, people would use them and stuff wouldn’t end up in the ocean," said Steve Amster, owner of Garden State Bagels in Encinitas.
Amster said the Styrofoam containers he uses are recyclable and are less expensive than cardboard containers.
Erik Steemblock, environmental programs manager for the city of Encinitas and staff liaison to the Environmental Committee, said the city postponed its plan to hear the ordinance because of high community interest in the proposed Styrofoam ban. A date has not been announced.
The Environmental Commission could approve the ordinance at its next meeting on Oct. 8 at 5:30 p.m.
The city of Solana Beach is considering a similar ban.
